As if I'd have appeared in Boston in _that_ rig!) My, but it was good to get into an automobile again and just _go_! And it was so good to have folks around you dressed in something besides don't-care black alpaca and stiff collars.

And I said so.

And Mother seemed so pleased.
"You did want to come back to me, darling, didn't you ?" she cried, giving me a little hug.

And she looked so happy when I told her all over again how good it seemed to be Marie again, and have her and Boston, and automobiles, and pretty dresses and folks and noise again.
She didn't say anything about Father then; but later, when we were up in my pretty room alone, and I was taking off my things, she made me tell her that Father _hadn't_ won my love away from her, and that I _didn't_ love him better than I did her; and that I _wouldn't_ rather stay with him than with her.
Then she asked me a lot of questions about what I did there, and Aunt Jane, and how she looked, and Father, and was he as fond of stars as ever (though she must have known 'most everything, 'cause I'd already written it, but she asked me just the same).

And she seemed real interested in everything I told her.
And she asked was he lonesome; and I told her no, I didn't think so; and that, anyway, he could have all the ladies' company he wanted by just being around when they called.